[blog]

火曜日, 6月 30, 2009

Berlin, day.... 6?

I've given up trying to do a pseudo-ethnomusicological investigation of my experience at the sonar festival. I just got a text message! Berlin is great.. today my plan is to try to get my phone working and go see the Mitte neighborhood and check out the museum of technology (!!!!!). I'm pretty sure they're gonna have some sick as fuck fax machines. There's a place here that's just like a 90s reggae skater movie called yaams. Also, i keep pissing off bikers by walking in the bike lane.



Nevertheless, I uploaded videos from sonar, check them out bitches!



YOUNG FATHERS - breakdown: awesome 80s break-hop beastie boys-esque rhyme flows PLUS hella coordinated retro-fractive dance moves. does that make sense? who cares, go download their music on itunes or some shit



i'm pretty sure i took this during BREAKBOT who was playing some hella sick ass fuck jams, the likes of which were rare in the ravey davey techno atmosphere of sonar. taking video of people taking video!!!!! dancing!!! etc etc..





i completely forget who was djing at the moment but this was at the night part of the festival. it was three or five HUGE rooms of massive wicked rave madness. we saw grace jones, animal collective, the dude from lcd soundsystem dj, and god knows what else. it was fucking amazing. oh yeah some crystal castles up in that jam. from the jungle of jumble of life that was the 3 days and nights of sonar... all i got was this awesome video!!



What else.. oh yeah, babies.

we're living the dream, or the dream is living it out in us
either way, it's awesome

i dont know what else this is supposed to be about... but whatever!

木曜日, 6月 25, 2009

More Sonar, Day 1, version 4

So, I could go on for hours on every picture, but that wouldn't be very interesting to read... pictures!:::

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KONONO N°1
I didn't know much about this band before I saw them, but they were fucking amazing. What could be better than HELL'OF (I keep reffering to shit as hella, i guess that's the norcal coming out) afro-cuban rhythms with electrified thumb pianos.

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I'm not sure if these pictures will do a good job of capturing the insane trance-inducing madcore rhythms of these talented afro-peoples. sidenote: "girl! you know i got a little jamaican in me" Umm..

Check them out. Wikipedia sayys:

"Konono N°1 is a musical group from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. They combine three electric likembé (a traditional instrument similar to the mbira) with voices, dancers, and percussion instruments that are made out of items salvaged from a junkyard. The group's amplification equipment is equally rudimentary, including a microphone carved out of wood fitted with a magnet from an automobile alternator and a gigantic horn-shaped amplifier. "

AWWWWESOME

Electronic Music Festival vs. Gothic Architecture



Who wins???????




It was crazy seeing awesome djs and artists play in the Barcelonian backdrop. This is all coming from an American viewpoint that is usually totally disconnected from unavoidable architectural reminders such as... hell'uv old buildings!

Furthermore, Euro bald dude with expensive gizmos playing techno house boom bass:

Sonar Day 1, version 2, the jukeboxxxxxx


Ummmm... so. I was feeling kind of weird at one point and decided to wander into the modern art museum that the sonar day part of the festival was held at. After wandering through some depressing rooms of exhibits about repression and war and stuff I found this awesome arcade room / 80s italo disco culture mash of radness. This is where I found this apparatus that i can only describe in adjectives and noun-like utterances: super 80s flamenco gypsy italo disco neon push button psychedelic raver jukebox. It played weird disco hits that were totally mediteranean influenced awesomeness. I think it's probably still there at the MACBA. If you're ever in Barcelona definitely check it out.. if it's still there.. which i don't see why it wouldn't be.. because its fucking awwwwesome!!!! Ok enough with the redundancy.


SONAR day 1, version 1

In the blur of life that preceded my flight to Barcelona, I retrospectively had no idea what I was getting myself into. But that's ok! I'm in berlin now decompressing a bit from the 24hr barcelona party scene.

some say that dj's save lives, regarding the night before.. buuuut i sayyy that disco naps have gotten me through the madness.






First day in barcelona was hectic as hell: jet lagged, lost, etc.. on the plus side i met these rad australian kids that showed me the way to a cheap hotel room off the main way, did alot of urban hiking, met some classy gays that told me about how awesome barcelona is, most likely offended the british girl sitting next to me on the plane with my berkeley 30 hours no showering all naturally soaped armpit stank on the plane...... But! I made it.





I forget who this guy was he was doing some cheesy electro shit with a laptop or something, it was kinda boring. I think at this point I was like, I need to drink about this. Also this girl came up and asked me for a cigarette and I offered her some "ducatos" which she rejected after being all like, 'aw hells nah i don't smoke that nasty shit'. unrefined tobacco apparently does not fly with fly bitches in europe.



This guy was demo-ing what was most likely a midi interface dj tool that could cycle through a song loop and set off different triggers and stuff like that. It was one of those things that looked really cool the first time you see it then you're like wait this is probably a pain in the ass to use and costs hella money$$. I'm over it. But it was kind of cool... kind of.

水曜日, 6月 24, 2009

last night in Barçeloña

I think i´m doing a pretty good job of opening up my mind up to as much as possible and take everything in. Decompression and regurgitation will have to wait till later. I´ve got so many awesome ideas! I can make music about it, write about it, draw about it..

(lets make it ѨÇ^*:_^*^%( A DANCE.

I´ve been wearing the same pants for about a week and they smello like hell-o.
HELLLLOOOOOOOOOO


Apparently gang colors (purple and yellow i believe.. sidenote: lakerssss) get you fucked with on the metro. Good thing Sara´s got some faux'real L.A. survival techniques. I´ve been hearing that there are alot of pickpockets and thieves (ladrones) around but then i was like, wait!, i´ve lived in fucking oakland. This is like party paradise island compared to that. (why you reppin oakland if you live in berkeley Son??)

However, on the non-cool side Jordan´s backpack got stolen last night as we sat on beach rocks watching the fireworks go off all over the beach for the San Juan summer solstice festival.. purging the bad spirits of the year past.... bummmmmerrrr. it was like fourth of july!

When i get to berlin i´m going to upload pictures and write about sonar, barcelona, etc. as i´ll have more time to do that then.

sidenote: Babies!!!! (they are running around in this pseudo arabic internet cafe.. they are called locutorios here.)) ummm... anyways.. grammmmar.. punkchuation... check? yo´self?

no checkkin, wreckkin it up!
i´m gonna slam dance mess you up!

I´ve got some rad theories on pseudo cultural ethnomusicological case studies.. academicism vs. REAL WORLD REALITY FACING TROOF (truth)

more traveling today.. but not before picnic in the park and conversations with jordan and sara about california party jams, essential nutrients, how we probably look like dirty weirdo hippies to the eurotrashia.. yet get asked directions as if we were locals-.. haha

wellllll, more later.

love peace and chicken grease,
gabo

火曜日, 6月 23, 2009

Barcelona, 2009

The beach here is fucking amazing. The food here is pretty good and the drinks decently cheap. Rave culture in europe is weird. ¨¨we´re going to festival.. it´s gonna be wicked!

I think that nothing really could have prepared me for what I´m doing but that´s alright!

-survival mode
-party mode
-sleep deprived inanity
-getting lost
-sexual ambiguity
-fashion
.-.---shoes
-----shirts


umm--dietary constrictions¡ççNONEXISTANT

WE´RE LIVING THE FUCKING DREAM, MAN

i miss and love everyone, can´t lie